Facile provision of CuO-Kaolin nanocomposite for boosted sonocatalytic removal of Cr(VI) from hydrous media. Issue 3 (28th January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ayagh, Kobra; Farrokhi, Mehrdad; Yang, Jae-Kyu; Shirzad-Siboni, Mehdi
• Is Part Of: Environmental technology. Volume 44:Issue 3(2023)
• Page Start: 342
• Page End: 353
• Publication Date: 2023-01-28
• Subjects: Cr(VI) -- reduction -- CuO-Kaolin -- ultrasound -- kinetic; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; 628.05
• DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2021.1970822
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-3330

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Nowadays, nanoscale materials have been widely applied in the removal of contaminants from the water system. Reduction of Cr(VI) (as a poisonous species) to Cr(III) (as a slight toxic species) was performed using CuO-Kaolin with ultrasound (US) irradiation. The CuO-Kaolin nanocomposite was synthesized via a facile co-precipitation method. Then X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses were performed to identify the structural features of CuO-Kaolin. The role of influential parameters for the reduction of Cr(VI) was investigated in sonocatalytic advanced oxidation system. About 89.35% of Cr(VI) was removed via US/CuO-Kaolin process after 90 min at optimum conditions (pH = 3, sonocatalyst dosage = 1 g L −1 and [Cr (VI)]0 = 20 mg L −1 ). This outstanding result was due to the synergistic effect of the increased electron delivery to conduction band on CuO-Kaolin nanocomposite and the increased reactive surface region of nanoparticles by sonication. The presence of H2 O2 as an amplifier improved the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) from 89.35% to 100% after 20 min. Kinetic experimental results were well described by a pseudo-first-order kinetic model. Desorption experiments showed excellent stability of sonocatalyst during the reaction and maintenance of the catalytic activity up to 10 sequential cycles. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: UF0001